I can’t believe the media frenzy around how, according to “everyone”, Twitter virtually single handed heralded a new era of citizen journalism. This little 140 character wonder is able to leap tall political buildings in a single bound …

From all the reporting you would think never before in the history of man has broadcasting ever had a more profound impact on the political landscape.

How ridiculous.

One only needs to look back over the years – these “media game changer” moments happened again and again. From the impact TV coverage of Vietnam war had on the American psyche to the availability of bandwidth for public access to the ability of anyone to broadcast via the internet – whether it be Twitter or any number of other video based chat rooms.

These all share one fundamental trait – they allow the one:many broadcast model. Technology just made this capability available to almost everyone … whether a news station or a civilian broadcasts a riot on his cell phone.

The opening up of a broadcast platform to so many more people is not without significant issues. It is not hard to fathom how, a particularly clever influencer, could recruit an army of citizen journalists to broadcast a particular version of a story. The lack of credentials and accountability is a startling development that should not be ignored.

It’s one thing for anyone and everyone to become a mini broadcast network – the question then becomes which broadcaster can we trust.

One Response

While I agree with your analysis of Facebook and its platform of trust, I think the most startling realization in the news world is that people prefer “fast” to “trusted”.

I believe we hold our own personal relationships to a higher standard than news reporters. We expect bias from our news reporters, and we don’t believe we can rely on them to reveal their leanings.

Furthermore, mainstream media no longer sets the culture and the clock for the news cycle. Once upon a time, people would receive newspapers in the afternoon and it would be enough. Today, people shifted their news habits to Twitter since other news outlets – even CNN – were slow to provide up-to-date news on the Iran election. Quite ironic, given that it was the very first Gulf war that legitimized CNN’s notion of round-the-clock news coverage.